Comparison of dual-rail pass transistor logic families in 1.5 V, 0.18 μm CMOS technology for low power applications

Abstract

In this paper the results of an experimental comparison of popular pass-transistor logic families in 1.5 V, 0.18 μm CMOS technology using advanced CAD tools for circuit tuning and simulation are presented. The logic families were compared using an experimental setup designed to clarify the strengths and weaknesses of each family in a relative fashion and evaluate their individual performances under identical operating conditions. An automatic circuit tuner was used to help ensure that the test circuits from each logic family were operating at near optimum performance. It is shown that the Differential Cascode Voltage Switch with Pass-Gate (DCVSPG) logic family is the most robust with respect to an amalgamation of speed, power, area and physical design criteria. The methodology of using hybrid pass-transistor/static CMOS circuit styles is also presented.